1.

Text to Columns

Used to break up numbers or text within a cell. Commonly used to break up names and parts of addresses. Additionally, you can use this to lop off additional text beyond a pre-determined cell length for data submissions.

2.

Remove Duplicates

Used to remove duplicate lines or cells. Commonly used to remove duplicates using student ID for quick metrics.

3.

Format Painter

Used to replicate formatting done in one area to another. Commonly used to make added rows or columns look like the rest of the dataset or when creating tables of information. Very useful when copy/pasting in information from various sources.

4.

Draw Borders

Used to create different border types when developing tables of information. Also allows you to erase or eliminate lines copied in from other sources.

5.

Find & Replace

Used to find and replace letters, numbers, words, etc. Commonly used to clean up data submissions that don’t allow certain punctuation, including hyphens in SSNs and phone numbers. Additionally, you can use this as a recode function if done with care.

6.

Filter

Used to easily search and restrict the worksheet on specified variables. Commonly used as a search feature to find specific data points. Additionally, filtering makes it easy to restrict information on a worksheet and copy/paste out those restricted lines/cells without sorting.

7.

Conditional Formatting

Used to visually improve metric tables. Commonly used to show values above/below means, identify progress using stoplight colors, etc. Works very well in pivot tables and dashboards.

8.

Wrap Text

Used to restrict long lines of text to a single cell. Commonly used when reporting out survey comments or to narrow column widths in table formats.

Contact Info Becky Gerambia Manager, Institutional Research Harper College [email protected]